Susan N. Coppersmith, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of physics, was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research."

Coppersmith is a theoretical physicist who explores the fundamental properties of many types of matter. At UW-Madison, she has studied how crustaceans form their shells, how advanced computers may operate at the atomic scale, and, in collaboration with the university's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, how to manipulate matter at scales of a few billionths of a meter.
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Andrew Greenberg, Co-Leader of the NSEC Education Group, was featured in an ACS Nano podcast to support a NanoFocus article he wrote for ACS Nano's April issue. Follow the link to listen to the podcast.  [MORE]

Four members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty, including Song Jin, are among 118 scientists, mathematicians and economists from around the country who have been awarded prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships.

Sloan Fellowships, which come with two-year, $50,000 grants, are awarded on a competitive basis to promising young researchers in the early stages of their careers.

Sloan Research Fellowships have been awarded since 1955. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York-based not-for-profit philanthropy founded in 1934. The foundation makes grants in support of research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance.
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Chemical and Biological Engineering Associate Professor Sean Palecek is noted in a February 13 article in the Wisconsin State Journal for his collaboration on research that turned a new kind of stem cell into heart cells.  [MORE]

Franco Cerrina, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, cited for work to develop technology in support of on-demand DNA microarray chips, a technology that permits high-definition gene expression analysis.   [MORE]

An exerpt:
"What we captured is nano-specific," said Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of life sciences communication. "But it is also representative of a larger attitude toward science and technology. It raises a big question about what's really going on in our public discourse where science and religion often clash."

"Our findings show that the public no longer just turns to scientists for answers about the science, but also for answers about its social implications," he said. "In other words, they want to know not only what can be done, but also what should be done. The more prepared scientists are to answer both questions, the more credible their societal leadership will be on issues like nanotechnology," said Scheufele, who co-authored the study with Elizabeth Corley, School of Public Affairs at Arizona State.
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